Upload Sole_Source_Justification-_nChannel_-_GECO_OM_20220302.pdf

JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL

FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

FAR 6.302-1

GECO Operations & Maintenance

1. AGENCY AND CONTRACTING ACTIVITY:

General Services Administration (GSA) Federal Acquisition Service (FAS) General Supplies and Services (GSS) Office of Acquisition Management, Central Office Acquisition Division (QSAB) Internal Acquisition Branch 1800 F St NW Washington, DC 20405

2. NATURE AND/OR DESCRIPTION OF THE ACTION BEING APPROVED:

The statutory authority allowing other than full and open competition is Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) subsection 6.302-1, Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements.

The requirement for which approval is sought is for Operations & Maintenance (O&M) and Tier 2/Tier 3 in-depth technical support services for the nChannel software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution, which is the middleware interface between multiple channels that make up the key purchasing solutions for GSA’s DoD and Federal civilian agency customers worldwide.

nChannel feeds data between GSA’s Order Management Services (OMS), which supports the GSS’s end-to-end business processes for Supply Chain Management (SCM) Acquisition Management (AM), and Retail Operation (RO) orders (requisitions, sales orders, and purchase orders),, GSA’s Enhanced Check Out version 2 (GECO 2), which is utilized in 34 GSA Fourth Party Logistics (4PL) brick-and-mortar stores worldwide with approximately $375M in sales annually, and the Store Portal (SP) application, which is a web shopping application that is utilized as a virtual store for GSA’s Office of General Supplies and Services’ (GSS) Retail Operations (RO).

Note: The overall GECO2/SP solution was developed via a separate contract in 2014 with a different awardee. The requirement that is the subject of this J&A is NOT for licensing or associated upgrades/enhancements for the GECO2/SP solution. The subject requirement is only for technical services supporting the nChannel software application that is already in place.

A contract would be awarded to:

DocuSign Envelope ID: B7DED46F-1717-4DB9-8A91-FBF80F4F9E9B

Grundey2 Investments LLC 8760 Orion Place, Suite 210 Columbus, OH 43240

● Contemplated Contract Type: Firm Fixed Price

● Proposed Approach under Consideration: GSA intends to make a sole source award to Grundey2Investments (formerly nChannel, Inc.). Grundey2Investments (Grundey) is the only known source that can meet the Government’s needs. No other capable sources were found during market research.

● Period of Performance: A base period of performance of April 1, 2022 – September 30, 2022 with two three month option periods. The first option would be October 1, 2022 – December 31, 2022. The second option would be January 1, 2023 through March 31, 2023.

3. DESCRIPTION OF SUPPLIES OR SERVICES REQUIRED TO MEET

AGENCY’S NEEDS:

GSA requires O&M and Tier 2 & 3 in-depth technical support services for the nChannel application. The specific tasks involved in the in-depth technical support services include the following:

Operations & Maintenance (O&M)

● Administering Application Databases – technical resources will be involved in database tuning, database management, analysis and troubleshooting.

● System Monitoring – Collect, analyze, evaluate and report on system metrics to provide GSA periodic assessments of system performance.

● System Administration – Monitor and maintain system and application software and support Office of GSA IT personnel in their support of the system hardware and communication facilities.

● Documentation Support – contribute to the creation and maintenance of system documentation including release notes, root cause analysis and user manual updates.

● Perform Information System Security Tasks – Assist in the remediation of identified system vulnerabilities for various system components. Administer security patches.

Update the System Security Plan

● Support Analysis and Resolution of Hardware Operations for Store Operations – Assist GSA IT personnel in the resolution of hardware related issues.

● Information Systems Contingency Plan Support – Participate in the periodic review and enhancement of the plan as well as support the annual testing of the plan.

● Migration Support – Create and implement a Phase-Out Transition Plan and tasks, including meetings with the new Contractor and new Contractor personnel to review current processes and procedures. GSA expects the incumbent O&M vendor to work with the new vendor to facilitate a seamless transition comprised of:

o Knowledge transfer o Collaborative problem management o Consultation on technical documentation and processes o Historical procurements

Help Desk Technical Support:

● Managing Tier 2 & 3 inquiries – Respond to and resolve system inquiries in adherence with the Performance Work Statement (PWS) Service Level Agreement (SLA), and provide documentation of resolution and incorporation into a Knowledge Base to assist other help desk personnel in resolving similar issues.

● Problem Management – Participate and contribute to the Help Desk meetings required by GSA to monitor inquiries and resolution.

● Escalation Plan and Process – Adhere to and support the escalation plan and process established in accordance with the PWS SLA.

● Emergency Support – Participate in any emergency travel and support activities that require on-site personnel at any of the brick and mortar store locations as directed by

GSA.

The Tier 2 and 3 in-depth technical support services personnel must be fully versed in the nChannel software and have access to the software code allowing for problem solving and bug fixes that are software related. This is essential to the Government’s requirements for the Tier 2 and 3 in-depth technical support services, and only Grundey personnel can perform these tasks.

In addition to the routine O&M support described above, GSA also requires Grundey to remediate recent ATO and security scan findings and to make system changes to accommodate mandated changes to GECO interfaces and catalog processing. Specifically this includes the following additional tasks:

● Replace the current RMS POS platform with nChannel’s new POS capability. This will address the ATO requirement to replace RMS.

● Decommissioning of the 34 store servers as the stores migrate to the new POS. This will address the ATO requirement to remove Windows and SQL Server 2008.

Decommissioning involves the following tasks to be performed for each store:

● Pull receipt table from store

● Backup database

● Transfer database

● Uninstall Sync Manager

● Mark for decommission

● Remove software

● Deactivate SQL

● Update documentation

● Shut down the store on Store Portal

● Coordinate changes in backup schedules.

● Upgrade 7 GECO domain servers from Windows and SQL Server 2008 version to the 2019 version. This will address the ATO requirement to remove Windows and SQL Server 2008.

● Implement multi-factor authentication for GECO DoD users that do not have a GSA issued PIV card. This will address the ATO requirement to implement MFA for all users.

● Migrate from the current HMMS file transfer server to a new file transfer server. This will address a GSA mandated change.

● Implement changes to support USMC migration from collecting JON at POS to collecting POET data to support change in their financial systems.

● Implement changes to accommodate different pricing for vendor consigned inventory items. This will address a GSA contract change that allows vendors to offer different pricing.

● Implement processes to remediate ALL security scan findings, including Low vulnerabilities. This will address a recent change by GSA IT security requiring 100% remediation of all security scan findings.

The contractor shall provide the Government with all software, computer tapes, interim and final files, including disks, external drives or any other form of storage media, and file documentation upon request by the COR. Final copies of all software, computer tapes, files, and adequate documentation for all files are required upon completion of this project.

Documentation and code shall be stored in a GSA repository.

4. STATUTORY AUTHORITY PERMITTING OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN

COMPETITION:

The statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition is FAR Subpart 6.302-1. GSA has determined there is only one responsible source and no other source will satisfy agency requirements. Specifically, the basis for other than full and open competition is that the minimum need can only be satisfied by one supplier with unique capabilities in accordance with FAR 6.302-1(b)(1)(i).

5. SUPPORTING INFORMATION THAT THE CONTRACTOR’S UNIQUE

QUALIFICATIONS REQUIRES THE USE OF ONLY ONE RESPONSIBLE

SOURCE AUTHORITY:

GSA recently made a decision to terminate the GECO3 Enhancement project after an 18-month attempt to replace the current platform with MS Dynamics 365. Several factors led to the decision, most notably were significant limitations discovered with D365 capabilities for processing catalog data, supporting GSAs order number and requisition number requirements, and inability to achieve functional parity with the current system. GSA also learned that extensive customizations and significantly higher than estimated license fees would result in a system whose expected O&M costs would be more than double the cost of the current system.

Current annual GECO O&M costs are $1.8M (license and staff). In September 2021, the GECO3 vendor informed GSA that on-going O&M (license and staff) would be $3.3M for FY23 and ~$4.1M when the additional Retail Operations stores were deployed.

GSA is initiating new market research to identify alternative solutions for meeting the future strategic objectives for GECO. That acquisition is expected to be completed within 12 months.

In the meantime, the current O&M support for GECO expires March 31, 2022.

Grundey2 Investments LLC is the developer and only seller of the proprietary nChannel SaaS platform that is currently utilized by GSA as an integral part of GSA Retail Operation’s order management system. Due to the proprietary nature of the nChannel software, only Grundey is able to provide the services listed in Section 3 above.

The nChannel software is a key component of the GECO solution and any degradation to performance would be detrimental to GSA’s supply chain solutions as the software acts as a middleware application and feeds data between multiple channels. GECO 2 and SP provide the means by which GSA customers can purchase industrial and office supplies worldwide. Both GECO2 and SP are designed to work with nChannel as the middleware application. nChannel transmits order transaction data between the two points of sales systems (GECO 2 and SP) and GSA’s Order Management Services (OMS). nChannel also receives data from CSC and Product Information Category System (PICS) to load store inventory data into its central database and then feeds segments of this data out to the various stores based on the store’s individual needs. The nChannel software also assists in the management of inventory and customer information.

If there are issues with the nChannel software the communication between systems would be degraded and the entire order management process could be crippled. A breakdown in this system would mean that transaction data from the point of sale systems would not be able to communicate with the order management system and therefore unable to process orders.

Approximately 40-50 Tier 2 and 3 Help Desk support requests are generated each month. Loss of this support will severely impact GSA’s ability to keep its order management process operational and stable. Any interruption of service would impact the ability of customers to purchase key items to support their military operations and supply chains.

6. DESCRIPTION OF EFFORTS MADE TO ENSURE THAT OFFERS ARE

SOLICITED FROM AS MANY SOURCES AS PRACTICABLE:

The proprietary nChannel software developed and employed by Grundey cannot be maintained by any other company. Accordingly, no offers were solicited from other sources. See paragraph 8 for a more detailed discussion regarding other available sources.

7. DETERMINATION THAT THE ANTICIPATED COST TO THE

GOVERNMENT WILL BE FAIR AND REASONABLE:

An Independent Government Estimate (IGE) was developed by the technical and program experts associated with this requirement. The IGE is based on current and historic pricing data and longstanding knowledge of the program.

The IGE will be utilized as a tool to gauge whether or not the quote from the contractor for this requirement change is fair and reasonable. Detailed cost and pricing data may also be requested from the contractor, to include direct and indirect rates that were utilized to develop the basis of estimate for the quote. The Government will conduct a technical analysis to ensure that the basis of estimate accurately reflects the requirement.

8. DESCRIPTION OF MARKET RESEARCH CONDUCTED:

No other vendors provide O&M and Tier 2 and 3 Help Desk support for the nChannel platform. GSA verified that no other company is able to conduct the services required as they are not granted access to nor do they have a license to use nChannel’s proprietary software that is used as a part of the GECO2 infrastructure.

9. LIST OF SOURCES EXPRESSING WRITTEN INTEREST IN THIS

ACQUISITION, IF ANY:

No other known sources are available in the marketplace for this requirement.

10. ANY OTHER FACTS SUPPORTING THE USE OF OTHER THAN FULL AND

OPEN COMPETITION

None.

11. A STATEMENT OF THE ACTIONS, IF ANY, THE AGENCY MAY TAKE TO

REMOVE OR OVERCOME ANY BARRIERS TO COMPETITION BEFORE

MAKING ANY SUBSEQUENT ACQUISITION FOR THE SUPPLIES OR

SERVICES REQUIRED:

Once stabilized, GSA will issue an RFI to conduct market research to determine the best path forward for GECO to align with GSA Strategic direction and ensure the long term viability of Retail Operations point of sale transaction processing.

12. APPROVALS

TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS PERSONNEL CERTIFICATION:

I hereby certify that any supporting data (e.g. verifying the Government’s minimum needs or scheduled requirements or other rationale for other than full and open competition), which form a basis for this justification, are complete and accurate.

Justin Corsetti Program Manager GSA FAS GSS - Business Operations Division

George Adam Director GSA FAS GSS - Business Operations Division

CONTRACTING OFFICER CERTIFICATION:

By signing this justification the Contracting Officer certifies that the facts and statements made are accurate and complete.

Nia Hill Contract Specialist GSA FAS GSS - Central Office Acquisition Division - Internal Acquisitions Branch (QSABB)

Carlton T. Benton Senior Contracting Officer GSA FAS GSS - Central Office Acquisition Division - Internal Acquisitions Branch (QSABB)

Dominic Lackey Director GSA FAS GSS - Central Office Acquisition Division - Internal Acquisitions Branch (QSABB)

Stephen A. Smith Director GSA FAS GSS - Central Office Acquisition Division (QSAB)

COMPETITION ADVOCATE:

I certify to the accuracy and completeness of this justification to the best of my knowledge.

Mark L. Dunkum Competition Advocate GSA FAS Director, GSA FAS GSS - Acquisition Management (QSA)